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8.01 Review Quiz 1 Results, Fall 1998

The graders who graded each problem estimated what they considered to be a passing grade on that problem. The minimum passing grade for the exam, which was based on the sum of those numbers, has been set at 61. In more detail, the numerical grade that you received can be translated into a letter grade by the following chart:

The cutoff for exemptions from the tutoring attendance requirement will be 85. All students who received a grade of 85 or higher will be exempt from the tutoring attendance requirement starting next Monday, October 5, and extending until the next Review Quiz, on Friday October 23. (The start of the exemptions is being delayed until October 5 so that all students can be treated equally, since half the students had their tutoring for the week of September 28 before the grading was completed.) Remember, by the way, that tutoring is highly recommended even when it is not required.

"Fifth Week Flags" for freshmen are to be sent out next week (week of October 5). They will be based solely on this Review Quiz, so freshmen who had grades of 60 or below will receive one of these warnings. If you are in this group, please take the warning seriously. Talk to your 8.01 recitation instructor, your 8.01 tutor, and your advisor, to try to figure out a way to study for this course more effectively. On the other hand, remember that it is only an early warning, so there is no need to panic. This quiz counts only 9% of your final grade, a little less than the other Review Quizzes will count. Even if you got a zero on this exam, you can still pass this course! (I should mention that while all students who achieve a numerically passing average grade can count on passing the course, not all students who receive a numerically failing average grade will fail. Each such student will be discussed individually at the final grade meeting of the recitation instructors, tutors, and me, and some students who are near the borderline will be passed. The most common reason is the demonstration of significant improvement during the term, even if it was not enough to numerically compensate for some bad grades at the beginning of the term.)

A histogram of the grades for the quiz is shown below. Note that vertical bars have been offset by half a point, so that each bar indicates the number of students who received the grades that are directly below the bar. Each bar indicates 5 possible grades: 96-100 for the first bar, 91-95 for the second bar, etc.

Regrade Policy and Deadline:

While we try to grade carefully, mistakes can never be completely avoided. If you have questions about the grading of your exam, you should bring them to your recitation instructor. In order to make sure that regrade requests are handled while the instructors can still recall how the grading was done, we are setting a deadline for regrade requests. Any question about the grading should be brought to the attention of your recitation instructor no more than two weeks after the class in which the paper was returned. If you are not satisfied with the action taken by your instructor, please feel free to contact me.

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